Matariki Collection on NZ On Screen

To mark Matariki NZ On Screen has today launched a special collection of iconic Māori television and films.

The collection has been curated by NZ On Screen’s Māori Content Curator Whai Ngata, the former Head of TVNZ Māori Programmes.

Ngata says it was a pleasure and a privilege to curate the Matariki collection. “As someone who has been heavily involved in Māori broadcasting through the years, I really appreciated the opportunity to work on a project celebrating achievement in this area.”

In making his choices for the collection, Ngata considered the significance of programmes in terms of both Māori social history and the development of Māori broadcasting, as well as the quality of the title itself.

“The titles I have chosen should not be seen in any order of merit, and the list does not detract in any way from the importance of and enjoyment given by many other programmes.”

The titles in the Matariki collection include the early 1970s documentary series Tangata Whenua, made by Michael King, Barry Barclay and John O’Shea, and acknowledged as the first time Pākehā television viewers got a significant window into the Māori world. Also from the 1970s, is episode one of the landmark drama series The Governor, which gave a then rare Māori perspective on our colonial history.

The long-running TVNZ Māori Programmes’ productions Koha, Te Karere, Waka Huia, and Marae also feature in the collection, as does TVNZ’s coverage of the Te Maori exhibition and Te Arikinui, Dame Te Atairangikaahu the Māori Queen’s Tangi.

Ngata acknowledges the talent of Māori entertainers on television, by including the work of Billy T James in his collection. He also includes the Māori biography series Pounamu, and the drama series Mataku, which told Māori supernatural stories.

The acclaimed New Zealand movies Ngati and Once Were Warriors are also in the collection. Ngata says of Warriors: “this movie has to be included for highlighting the problem of domestic violence, not only among Māori, but all societies. It gave a very strong message of the huge problem that transcends race and social status.”

Len Lye in this year’s Film Festival

There’s a programme in this year’s International Film Festival devoted to rare Lye films. It has one screening in Auckland at the Academy Cinema, at 6.15 pm on Sunday July 12, and two screenings in Wellington at the Film Archive on Saturday August 1 at 3 pm and 5.15pm.

Called “Discoveries and Rarities,” the programme will contain the first New Zealand screenings of some Len Lye films re-discovered and restored in recent years, in association with the Museum of Modern Art and the NZ Film Archive. There are some surprises among them, including a Busby Berkeley-style space-travel dance sequence which Lye contributed to a British feature-film, a March of Time episode on the dangers of nuclear power, and some high-energy short animations.

The programme will also include the premiere of Art that Moves, an 18-minute film about Lye that Roger Horrocks directed and Shirley Horrocks produced, with camerawork by Leon Narbey and music by Eve de Castro-Robinson. It’s a look inside Lye’s head as a teenager, as he has his ‘Eureka!’ moment, coming up with radical ideas about a new art of motion.

See the Film Festival programme on the website for more details.

On NZ On Screen you can find the earliest music video Swinging the Lambeth Walk from Len Lye in 1939. Also the 1995 documentary Flip & Two Twisters by Shirley Horrocks.

NZ films screening in Amsterdam

De Uitkijk Down Under: July 4th to August 16th

This summer is all about Australia and New Zealand at Filmtheater De Uitkijk in Amsterdam.

Every day the best films from Down Under will be screened and every Saturday there will be special Down Under activities like lectures, workshops (didgeridoo playing etc), wine tasting evenings and musical performances.

The NZ movies included in this event are:

- Whale Rider – screening from July 4th to July 8th
- An Angel at my Table – screening from July 16th to July 22nd
- The Piano – screening from August 13th to August 16th

More information about this unique festival can be found at www.uitkijk.nl.

blog badges

We have some beautiful imagery on the site, and we’ve got a series of banners that we created to go on other sites, that we’re making available to anyone who’d like to have them!

You can add them to your blogs, presentations, websites … anywhere you’d like to link back to NZ On Screen – feel free to use one of these delightful banners!

Just right-click to download and you’re away:

Music videos now on site

This month we have launched a collection of New Zealand music videos. It’s a collection that has been months in the making – a lot of selection, rights clearances and tracking down videos were involved in getting it all together.

A selection of 80 New Zealand clips was put live on June 2, with more to come.

Broadcaster and Kiwi music fan – former TV3 and C4 (retro show Flashbacks) host – James Coleman kicked off music videos on NZ On Screen by curating a choice selection of clips for the site. He says this was a highly enjoyable but daunting task. “We’ve never had the big budgets for music videos that overseas artists enjoy, but we’ve had an admirable DIY resourcefulness within our budgetary limitations, and this has produced a stash of stunning clips.

“Because NZ On Screen exists to showcase and celebrate the NZ screen industry, I’ve chosen the music videos based on the concept, execution and impact of the clip itself, quite apart from the success of the song. Having said that, most of our top artists are represented in the collection.

“The oldest title in the collection is Len Lye’s ‘Swinging the Lambeth Walk‘ from 1939, which was something of a proto-type music video. Then there’s The Swingers from the early 1980s, through to recent gems for Gin Wigmore, Tiki Taane, Hollie Smith and Midnight Youth.”

NZ On Screen Content Director Irene Gardiner says the new music video collection is just the start, many more will be added to the site in the coming months.

“This is a very exciting development for us. Music video is an important part of our screen industry. It’s the place where a lot of our top directors and other crew members got their start, and many still return to music video from time to time for the creative outlet it provides. As well as a calling card for the band and creative team behind the clip, it’s also a sophisticated art-form in its own right.

NZ On Screen is very grateful to the music video directors, artists, and record companies for their help in clearing the videos for inclusion on the website.

Take a look – music videos, on NZ On Screen.

NZ On Screen wins at the Qantas Media Awards!

NZ On Screen won the Best Entertainment Site award at the 2009 Qantas Media Awards in Wellington last night. We were also finalists for Best Website design (the winner was stuff.co.nz).

We know our site is awesome, and it’s great to have that recognised by our peers!

Big congratulations to our team who make everything happen, and to Chrometoaster for the fabulous site design.

Cannes update

Our dedicated rights and legal executives have taken themselves off to Cannes this week with their Inspire Films hats on.

Kim and Catherine living it up by the seaside in Cannes.

We’ll be getting regular updates of the red carpet dramas, the fabulous films and fabulous people, and no doubt the fabulous parties. It’s all work and no play for these girls! Not.

Music videos … on their way!

In a lovely story by TV3’s Nightline last night, it was announced that NZ On Screen has music videos online for free!

Well they were almost right, we are going to have music videos online, and they will be free – but they’re not there yet.

James Coleman has been collating a selection of fine NZ music videos through the ages and we’ll have them up in the last week of May – so stay tuned!  You can join our mailing list or follow our Twitter feed to keep updated with our progress

New on NZ On Screen

A lovely list of What’s New on NZ On Screen this month. Some amazing titles – many full length, 2 new collections and ScreenTalk interviews! Enjoy.

Full Length

Our Oldest Soldier (2002)
Children of Gallipoli (2001)
The Shadow of Vietnam (1995)
Turangawaewae – A place to stand (2003)
Dead Letters (2006)
Tama Tū (2004)
Gallipoli – the New Zealand Story (1984)
Vietnam – My Father’s War (2006)
Gung Ho – Rewi Alley of China (1979)
Tangata Whenua – Waikato (1974) [1 episode in full]
New Zild – the Story of New Zealand english (2005)
Von Tempsky’s Ghost (2002)
Score (1980)
In A Land of Plenty (2002)
Trio at the Top (2001)

Excerpts

The Time of Our Lives (2007)
The Mighty Moa (1998)
Ngati (1987)

Trailers

The Ferryman (2007)
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous (2005)
The Locals (2003)
The Irrefutable Truth about Demons (2000)
The Amazing Extraordinary Friends (2007)
The Ugly (1997)

Collections

Anzac Day (18 titles)
Phil Wakefield’s Top 5 Feature Films (5 titles)

ScreenTalk

Michael Hurst
Elizabeth Mitchell
Vanessa Alexander

April top 10

NZ On Screen had a great month in April, with some amazing programmes like The Governor and an episode of Tangata Whenua made available for the first time. We also had a fantastic Anzac Day Collection – bringing you as many war stories as we could lay our hands on.

There are over 430 titles on the site now – it’s always fascinating to see what people want to watch. So here’s how it panned out – the Top 10 Titles for April!

Circuits of Gold
Documentary, 1987, Full Length
We have come to realise that the speedway and motorcycling communities are some of the most connected online in the world! Our top titles are consistently recognising our speeding heroes. This documentary is about champion speedway driver Ivan Mauger.

Britten Backyard Visionary
TV Documentary, 1993, Full Length
Kiwi inventor John Britten is loved by motorcyclists worldwide. This doco just keeps getting sent around from club to club, forum to forum. It’s fabulous to see it getting so much attention!

The Governor
Television, 1977, Full Length – Episode One
Many people said it couldn’t be done. The Governor is an iconic NZ television series that is fraught with issues – most significant for our team has been clearing the copyright to enable us to put this online. There will be more episodes as we get them cleared. It’s great that so many people are enjoying this show.

The Living Room – Series One
TV Series, 2003, Excerpts from each episode
This series includes the Flight of the Conchords trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and the international FOTC fan club are happy about that. But this series has some amazing episodes from an extremely talented bunch of directors, including Mark Albiston, Louis Sutherland, Sima Urale, Chris Graham, and many more.

Peter Snell – Athlete
NFU Short, 1964, Full Length
No one saw this one coming! Peter Snell has a huge online following and this documentary has spread like wildfire through online running communities. Peter Snell continues to be an inspiration 45 years down the track.

Gloss
TV Series, 1987, Full Length – Episode One
Before the NZ On Screen site went live, whoever we talked to about it always said “Will you have Gloss??” This much anticipated series gains new followers every month – hopefully not from those looking for fashion tips.

Double Booking
TV Comedy, 1998, Full Length (now excerpt)
This one-off comedy starring Kevin Smith was part of the Tribute to Kevin Smith Collection. As well as Kevin and the lovely Teresa Healey, the cast was a virtual Gloss reunion – it obviously struck a chord with many of you!

Billy T Live
Television, 1990, Excerpts
This show has been a consistent favourite since the NZ On Screen site went live. His unique brand of humour is captured in these clips at its affable, non-PC best.

Queer Nation
TV Series, 1996-2004, A selection of 8 Full Length episodes
This show did something amazing. It put our lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people on the tele. The positive response we’ve had to putting it on NZ On Screen shows these stories stand the test of time.

Maori Battalion March To Victory
Television, 1990, Full Length
A key part of our Anzac Day collection, Maori Battalion March To Victory tells the story of the New Zealand Army’s (28th) Māori Battalion that fought in campaigns during World War Two. Produced, directed and written by Tainui Stephens, this documentary is a hugely popular title on NZ On Screen.

Colin McKenzie
Extra Bonus Favourite, Profile
I’m not sure what it says about our viewing public but the most popular profile on the site in April was Colin McKenzie. Take a look and see if you can figure out why that’s weird! (clue – it was added on April 1st)